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Biomedical subjects

P J Cordo

Publications and source records attributed to P J Cordo.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Effect of slow, small movement on the vibration-evoked kinesthetic illusion.

The study reported in this paper investigated how vibration-evoked illusions of joint rotation are influenced by slow (0.3 degrees /s), small (2-4 degrees ) passive rotation of the joint. Normal human adults (n=15) matched the perceived position of the left ("reference") arm with the right ("matching") arm while vibration (50 pps, 0.5 mm) was applied for 30 s to the relaxed triceps brachii of the reference arm. Both arms were constrained to rotate horizontally at the elbow. Three experimental conditions were investigated: (1) vibration of the stationary reference arm, (2) slow, small passive extension or flexion of the reference arm during vibration, and (3) slow, small passive extension or flexion of the reference arm without vibration. Triceps brachii vibration at 50 pps induced an illusion of elbow flexion. The movement illusion began after several seconds, relatively fast to begin with and gradually slowing down to a stop. On average, triceps vibration produced illusory motion at an average latency of 6.3 s, amplitude of 9.7 degrees , velocity of 0.6 degrees /s, and duration of 16.4 s. During vibration, slow, small ( approximately 0.3 degrees /s, 1.3 degrees ) passive rotations of the joint dramatically enhanced, stopped, or reversed the direction of illusory movement, depending on the direction of the passive joint rotation. However, the subjects' perceptions of these passive elbow rotations were exaggerated: 2-3 times the size of the actual movement. In the absence of vibration, the subjects accurately reproduced these passive joint rotations. We discuss whether the exaggerated perception of slow, small movement during vibration is better explained by contributions of non muscle spindle Ia afferents or by changes in the mechanical transmission of vibration to the receptor.

Adult↗

The sit-up: complex kinematics and muscle activity in voluntary axial movement.

This paper describes the kinematics and muscle activity associated with the standard sit-up, as a first step in the investigation of complex motor coordination. Eight normal human subjects lay on a force table and performed at least 15 sit-ups, with the arms across the chest and the legs straight and unconstrained. Several subjects also performed sit-ups with an additional weight added to the head. Support surface forces were recorded to calculate the location of the center of pressure and center of gravity; conventional motion analysis was used to measure segmental positions; and surface EMG was recorded from eight muscles. While the sit-up consists of two serial components, 'trunk curling' and 'footward pelvic rotation', it can be further subdivided into five phases, based on the kinematics. Phases I and II comprise trunk curling. Phase I consists of neck and upper trunk flexion, and phase II consists of lumbar trunk lifting. Phase II corresponds to the point of peak muscle contraction and maximum postural instability, the 'critical point' of the sit-up. Phases III-V comprise footward pelvic rotation. Phase III begins with pelvic rotation towards the feet, phase IV with leg lowering, and phase V with contact between the legs and the support surface. The overall pattern of muscle activity was complex with times of EMG onset, peak activity, offset, and duration differing for different muscles. This complex pattern changed qualitatively from one phase to the next, suggesting that the roles of different muscles and, as a consequence, the overall form of coordination, change during the sit-up.

Adolescent↗

The effect of aging on dynamic position sense at the ankle.

The present study addressed whether dynamic position sense at the ankle--or sense of position and velocity during movement--shows a similar decline as a result of aging as previously described for static position sense and movement detection threshold. Additionally, the involvement of muscle spindle afferents in the possible age-related decline was studied. To assess dynamic position sense, blindfolded subjects had to open the hand briskly when the right ankle was rotating passively through a prescribed target angle. To assess the involvement of muscle spindles, the effect of tibialis anterior vibration was studied. The results showed that aging lead to a significant increase in deviation from the target angle at hand opening as well as in variability of performance. Vibration resulted in larger undershoot errors in the elderly compared to the young adults, suggesting that the age-related decline in performance on the dynamic position sense task is not (solely) due to muscle spindle function changes. Alternatively, this degeneration might be due to altered input from other sources of proprioceptive input, such as skin receptors. The elderly subjects did show a beneficial effect of practice with the task, which may provide solid fundaments for rehabilitation.

Adult↗

Position sense during imperceptibly slow movements.

Proprioceptive input provides the nervous system with information related to body position and movement. This study investigated how normal humans perceive information related to the position of a limb when it is either at rest or moving very slowly, below the threshold for movement perception. Each subject's left hand, hidden from view, was horizontally translated in the frontal plane such that joint rotation was largely isolated to the shoulder. The translation speed was too slow for the subjects to detect movement. Subjects indicated their perception of hand position at 1- or 2-min intervals by pointing with the right index finger to the perceived location of the tip of the left middle finger. The constant error (i.e., bias) and variable error (i.e., SD of mean constant error) of each pointing movement was quantified. Partway through the trial, the direction of hand movement was reversed. In two additional experimental conditions, the subjects pointed at 1- or 2-min intervals at the stationary left hand, either when they assumed the hand would be moved or when they knew it would not. During slow movement, errors in the frontal and sagittal planes were found to be independent, and therefore, data analysis focused on the frontal plane, as this was the plane relevant to the subjects' task. All subjects performed the task sufficiently well to demonstrate a clear perception of hand location during the slow movement. The accuracy of perception was better when the left (target) hand was in its ipsilateral hemifield and, correspondingly, when the right hand pointed to its contralateral hemifield. There was no significant difference in constant error when the hand moved slowly, although there was a slightly higher variable error during slow movement than when the hand was stationary. Based on the similarity of results in trials with very slow and no hand movement, it was concluded that position-sense percepts are more accurately distinguished by the speed of movement rather than whether movement is occurring or not.

Adult↗

Proprioceptive control of multijoint movement: unimanual circle drawing.

The present experiments addressed whether proprioception is used by the central nervous system (CNS) to control the spatial and temporal characteristics of unimanual circle drawing. Circle drawing is a multijoint movement, in which the muscles crossing the elbow and the shoulder are sequentially activated. The spatial and temporal characteristics of circle drawing depend on the precise coordination of these sequential activation patterns, and proprioception is ideally suited to support this coordination. Blindfolded human subjects produced a counterclockwise circular drawing motion (diameter = 16 cm) with the dominant arm at a repetition rate of 1/s. In some trials, 60-70 Hz vibration was applied to the tendons of the biceps brachii and/or the anterior deltoid. Spatial parameters measured from hand-movement data included the x- and y-axis diameters, circularity, and drift of the hand in the workspace. Vibration of either the biceps brachii or the anterior deltoid caused subjects to draw circles with decreased diameter, with changes in circularity, and with a systematic drift of the hand. These distortions to circle drawing by tendon vibration demonstrate that the CNS uses proprioceptive information to accomplish the spatial characteristics of this motor task. Simultaneous vibration of both muscles produced a drift that exceeded the individual vibration effects, which suggests that the CNS combined proprioceptive information related to elbow and shoulder rotation to control the movement of the hand. The temporal characteristics of circle drawing were quantified from joint angle data. While vibration did not significantly influence the relative phase between elbow and shoulder rotation, the variability of the phase relationship increased significantly, which suggests that proprioception contributes to phase stabilization. During circle drawing, elbow flexion-extension movements were produced with limited activation of the biceps. Nevertheless, biceps vibration distorted the circle metrics, suggesting that a muscle's significance as a sensory transducer is independent of its activity level.

Adolescent↗

Proprioceptive control of multijoint movement: bimanual circle drawing.

Proprioception is used by the central nervous system (CNS) in the control of the spatial and temporal characteristics of single joint and multiple joint movement. The present study addressed the role of proprioception in the control of bilateral cyclical movements of the limbs. Normal blindfolded human subjects drew circles simultaneously and symmetrically with the two arms (16 cm diameter, 1 /s) upon two digitizing tablets. In selected trials, vibration (60-70 Hz) was applied to the tendon of the biceps and/or anterior deltoid muscles of the dominant arm to distort the proprioceptive information from muscle spindle afferents. One goal of this study was to identify whether tendon vibration influenced the spatial characteristics of circles drawn by the vibrated, dominant arm and the non-vibrated, non-dominant arm. A second goal was to determine the effect of vibration on the temporal coupling between the two arms during circle drawing. The results revealed that tendon vibration affected the spatial characteristics of circles drawn by the vibrated arm in a manner similar to that previously found for unilateral circle drawing. During bimanual circle drawing, vibration had only a minimal effect on the spatial characteristics of the non-vibrated, non-dominant arm. Temporal interlimb coupling was quantified by the relative phasing between the arms. Without tendon vibration, the dominant arm led the non-dominant arm. Vibration of the dominant arm increased the average phase lead. In a first control experiment, vibration of the non-dominant arm decreased the phase lead of the dominant arm, or even reversed it to a non-dominant arm phase lead. In a second control experiment, the subjects performed the bimanual circle-drawing task with vision of only the vibrated arm, in which case there was no spatial distortion of the circles drawn by the vibrated arm, but the phase relation between the two arms was still shifted as if vision were completely unavailable. It was concluded that, in bimanual movements such as these, the spatial and temporal characteristics of movement are controlled independently. Whereas the spatial characteristics of hand movement seem to be controlled unilaterally, the temporal characteristics of interlimb coupling appear to be controlled by proprioceptive information from both limbs, possibly by a proprioceptive triggering mechanism.

Adult↗

Representation of wrist joint kinematics by the ensemble of muscle spindles from synergistic muscles.

Proprioceptive information about movement is transmitted to the central nervous system by a variety of receptor types, which are widely distributed among the muscles, joints, and skin. Muscle spindles are known to be an important and reliable source of information for the perception of movement kinematics. Previous studies that focused on the characteristics of single muscle spindle firing patterns have left the impression that each receptor fires in relation to a number of kinematic variables, leaving the following question unanswered: what role is played by the ensemble of muscle spindles within the same muscle or within synergistic muscles? The study described in this paper addressed whether the perception of joint position and velocity is based on the net input of muscle spindles residing in all synergistic muscles crossing a joint. Normal human adults performed a motor coordination task that required perception of joint velocity and dynamic position at the wrist. The task was to open the left hand briskly as the right wrist was passively rotated in the flexion direction through a prescribed target angle. In randomly occurring trials, the tendons to three muscles [extensor carpi radialis (ECR), extensor carpi ulnaris (ECU), and extensor digitorum (ED)] were vibrated either individually or in different combinations during the performance of the motor task. Tendon vibration is known to distort muscle spindle firing patterns, and consequently, kinesthesia. By comparing performance errors with and without tendon vibration, the relative influences of muscle spindles residing in ECR, ECU, and ED were quantified. Vibration of the individual ECR, ECU, or ED tendons produced systematic undershoot errors in performance, consistent with the misperception of wrist velocity and dynamic position. Performance errors were larger when combinations of, rather than individual, muscle tendons were vibrated. The error resulting from simultaneous vibration of ECR and ECU was roughly equal to the sum of the errors produced by vibration of the individual tendons. These effects of vibrating synergistic tendons at the wrist suggest that kinesthesia is derived from the integrated input of muscle spindles from all synergistic muscles.

Adult↗

Fusimotor reflexes in relaxed forearm muscles produced by cutaneous afferents from the human hand.

1. This study was designed to determine whether cutaneous receptors in the hand exert reflex effects on fusimotor neurones innervating relaxed muscles. Recordings were made from fifty-four muscle spindle afferents in the radial nerve while the arm was held relaxed in a supporting frame. Cutaneous afferents were activated by trains of stimuli at non-noxious levels to the superficial radial nerve or to the palmar surface of the fingers. 2. For the population of muscle spindle afferents, the mean discharge rate was 7.1 +/- 6.4 Hz (range 0-24 Hz). Thirty-three per cent had no background discharge, and this occurred significantly more often in finger extensors than wrist extensors. 3. Trains of cutaneous stimuli produced no change in the discharge rates of the majority of spindle endings irrespective of whether the spindle afferent had a background discharge or was given one by muscle stretch. However, with two of forty afferents, the stimuli produced an increase in discharge at latencies of 135 and 155 ms. 4. With a further fourteen muscle spindle endings, the dynamic responses to stretch were measured 100-400 ms after the trains of cutaneous stimuli. For four spindle afferents there was a statistically significant change in the dynamic response to stretch occurring at conditioned-stretch intervals of 100-200 ms. For two afferents the dynamic response decreased by 17 and 26% and for two others it increased by about 24 and 37%. 5. While these results support the view that the level of background fusimotor drive is low in the relaxed state, they suggest that there is some dynamic fusimotor drive to completely relaxed muscles operating on the human hand, and that this drive can be altered reflexly by cutaneous afferent inputs from the hand.

Adult↗

Time-dependent effects of kinesthetic input.

Sensory input can be used by the nervous system to control the spatial parameters of motor responses (e.g., distance, velocity, and direction) by initializing these parameters before movement onset and then by adjusting these parameters during movement. Sensory input can also be used to trigger movements. In the experiments reported in this paper, we compared the effects of kinesthetic input on a triggered motor response when the kinesthetic input was generated at different times relative to the onset of the motor response. Human subjects responded to a visual stimulus by intentionally increasing elbow torque to a target level. Kinesthetic input was generated by unexpectedly rotating each subject's elbow 100 ms before the onset of the intentional torque response (early) or coincident with the onset of the intentional torque response (late). The effect of early kinesthetic input on the intentional torque response markedly differed from the effect of late kinesthetic input. The effect of early kinesthetic input was relatively independent of the direction of elbow rotation, had a different dependence on the amplitude of rotation, and required a shorter duration of rotation compared to the effect of late kinesthetic input. These differences in the effects of early and late kinesthetic input might be related to the initialization, triggering, and adjustment of motor responses.

Journal Article↗

Kinesthetic control of a multijoint movement sequence.

1. The individual joint rotations of a movement sequence might be controlled either by a central motor plan or by motion-dependent (i.e., kinesthetic) sensory input. Most previous research has focused on how the nervous system uses central motor plans to control movement sequences. This study examined how the nervous system uses kinesthetic input to control a multijoint movement sequence. 2. Human subjects were trained to extend the elbow horizontally at 22 degrees/s and to open the hand as the elbow passed through a 2 degrees-wide target zone. Different distances to the target zone were used to examine a wide range of movement times of the elbow to target zone (i.e., 150-1,500 ms). 3. A hydraulic apparatus simulated a spring resistance to the elbow extension. In some trials, the spring constant was unexpectedly increased or decreased just before the subject initiated the elbow extension, causing the elbow to slow down or speed up. Because these changes in spring constant were randomly imposed and because no visual feedback was available, subjects had to use kinesthetic input to control this motor task. 4. The experimental subjects employed two different strategies for the use of kinesthetic input to control this motor task. In the first strategy, the subjects used kinesthetic input related to the elbow rotation to detect and correct velocity errors caused by the changes in spring constant. The onset of error correction varied between 92 and 196 ms after the appearance of velocity errors. The proportion of the error corrected by the time the elbow reached the target zone varied between 31 and 78%, depending on the movement time to the target zone. However, because this correction for velocity errors was neither instantaneous nor complete, the changes in spring constant caused leads and lags in the time that the elbow reached the target zone. 5. In the second strategy, subjects used kinesthetic input related to the elbow rotation to advance or delay the onset of the hand movement, thereby compensating for leads and lags in the arrival of the elbow at the target zone. These adjustments in the triggering time of the hand movement allowed subjects to open the hand while the elbow was in the target zone. This kinesthetic triggering mechanism was effective for elbow rotations reaching the target zone within 150-1,500 ms. 6. These results suggest that, to fully understand how multijoint movement sequences are controlled by the nervous system, sensory mechanisms must be considered in addition to central mechanisms.

Elbow Joint↗

Sensory control of target acquisition.

Recent research has expanded our understanding of how the nervous system uses visual and kinesthetic input to move the arm to a target. In this review, we present data to show how the nervous system can rapidly use sensory input to control impending or ongoing motor activity. We contrast visual control with kinesthetic control to show how these two sources of sensory input are used to control parameters of motor command such as amplitude and direction, to trigger the motor commands, and then to correct errors in trajectory. Despite many differences in the organization of the visual and the kinesthetic sensory systems, the nervous system appears to process these two types of sensory input similarly.

Afferent Pathways↗

Kinesthetic and visual control of a bimanual task: specification of direction and amplitude.

Kinesthetic information about a perturbation can quickly modify motor activity by producing reflexive compensation. The purpose of the present study was to determine how quickly kinesthetic information about target movement can modify motor activity. Visual information about target movement is known to guide motor activity both quickly and accurately. Therefore, we compared the speed and accuracy of responses to kinesthetically and visually presented targets. Human subjects produced changes in elbow torque as quickly and accurately as possible after the random presentation of 1 of 8 target torques. Information about the direction and amplitude of the target torque was provided either kinesthetically or visually. Responses to kinesthetic targets started at an average latency of 150 msec, and after an additional 159 msec, these responses became accurately graded according to target amplitude. Responses to visual targets started at an average latency of 250 msec, and after an additional 208 msec, these responses became accurately graded according to target amplitude. The accuracy of responses to kinesthetic targets was very similar to the accuracy of responses to visual targets. We conclude that the neural processing of kinesthetic information about target movement is sufficiently fast and accurate to guide typical motor activities.

Adult↗

Kinesthetic coordination of a movement sequence in humans.

This experiment examined whether kinesthetic input could be used to coordinate a 'movement sequence', a series of sequentially executed joint rotations. In this experiment, human subjects extended the elbow at a constant velocity and opened the hand as the elbow passed through a predetermined angle, as in throwing. Subjects were able to open the hand at the prescribed elbow angle, even though they received no visual feedback and they could not predict when the elbow would reach this angle. The only remaining source of information about elbow angle was kinesthetic input. Being able to control the internal timing of our movement sequences with kinesthetic input may be important to the way we move.

Elbow Joint↗

Quantification of peripherally induced reciprocal activation during voluntary muscle contraction.

A new method was developed to compare patterns of coactivation and reciprocal activation of antagonistic muscles during different experimental conditions. Pure coactivation was defined as a muscle activity pattern where there was never a difference between the slope of the agonist EMG record and the slope of the antagonist EMG record. The degree of reciprocal activation was defined as being proportional to the average absolute value of the difference between these two slope values. Use of this method for the comparison of muscle activity patterns during isometric contractions and unexpected movements showed that peripheral input related to agonist unloading and antagonist stretch significantly increased reciprocal activity.

Adult↗

Mechanisms controlling accurate changes in elbow torque in humans.

This paper addresses a fundamental question of how motor commands specify target torque levels. Human subjects produced fast and accurate changes in torque with the isometric elbow joint. Visual stimuli were used to indicate target torque levels as well as to cue subjects to initiate their responses. During rapid changes in torque from one steady-state level to another, target torque was achieved through a sequence of approximations. During the first 200-250 msec of responses produced in the presence of visual feedback, 3 distinct control mechanisms were recruited to guide torque to the target level. The timing and accuracy of each control mechanism were evaluated. The first control mechanism was triggered by the visual stimulus and produced the initial rise in torque. Target torque predictability was found to strongly influence the accuracy of this control mechanism. The second control mechanism produced a corrective adjustment in torque within roughly the first 100 msec of responses. This mechanism incorporated target torque information provided by the stimulus into the response. The third control mechanism began 200-250 msec after response onset and produced corrective adjustments based on visual feedback of torque errors. The stability of the visual feedback mechanism was evaluated because of a long loop delay. Two strategies were used to control stability: low gain and information transfer between the visual feedback mechanism and the preceding (second) control mechanism.

Adult↗

Interaction between visually and kinesthetically triggered voluntary responses.

A voluntary motor response that is prepared in advance of a stimulus may be triggered by any sensory input. This study investigated the combination of visual and kinesthetic inputs in triggering voluntary torque responses. When a visual stimulus was presented alone, subjects produced a fast and accurate increase in elbow flexion torque. When a kinesthetic stimulus was presented instead of the visual stimulus, subjects produced a similar response with a reduced response latency. When a visual stimulus was presented in combination with a kinesthetic stimulus, subjects initiated their responses after either a visual or a kinesthetic response latency, depending on the relative timing of the two stimuli. An analysis of response amplitude suggested that when visual and kinesthetic stimuli were combined, both stimuli triggered a response. The results are more consistent with a simple behavioral model of addition of visual and kinesthetic responses (which predicts that the response to combined stimuli should be the sum of individual responses) than with a model of exclusion of one response (which predicts that the response to combined stimuli should be identical to either the visual or the kinesthetic response). Because addition of visually and kinesthetically triggered responses produced a response with an erroneously large amplitude, it is suggested that visual and kinesthetic inputs are not always efficiently integrated.

Journal Article↗

Properties of postural adjustments associated with rapid arm movements.

1. We have examined rapid postural adjustments associated with a class of voluntary movements that disturb postural equilibrium. In the text that follows, these motor activities are termed associated postural adjustments and voluntary focal movements, respectively. Standing human subjects performed a variety of movement tasks on a hand-held manipulandum, resulting in disturbances to their postural equilibrium. The experimental use of movements that interact with the subject's environment in a relatively simple was permitted a more precise comparison of the postural adjustments with their associated focal movements. 2. Subjects either pulled or pushed on a stiff interface (the handle) or they responded in a predetermined way to handle perturbations. These activities were carried out with various degrees of steady-state postural stability. Prior to and during these movements, support surface and handle forces, electromyographic (EMG) signals, and body sway were monitored. 3. In addition to previously shown postural adjustments associated with reaction-time armed movements, we have demonstrated these postural activities occur in concept with segmental stretch reflexes and self-initiated (untriggered) movements. Postural adjustments were initiated shortly before all focal movements tested except the short-latency component of the biceps stretch reflex (25- to 30-ms latency). However, this reflex component was rarely elicited by handle perturbations in free-standing subjects; therefore, postural adjustments usually preceded any biceps activity under this condition. 4. By varying the degree of steady-state postural equilibrium, a reciprocal gain/threshold relationship between postural and focal components was documented, i.e., when stability was high, postural activity was reduced or absent and focal activity enhanced. Conversely, the biceps stretch reflex was difficult to elicit under any condition where the subjects was not fully supported in the direction of movement and reaction times of focal movements were prolonged. 5. Postural activities associated with focal movements were found to share a number of organizational properties with automatic postural adjustments to support surface movements. Specifically, the postural muscle synergies were equivalent in muscle composition, relative activation magnitudes, and relative temporal sequencing. Furthermore, both types of postural adjustments were highly specific in locus and magnitude to the quality of steady-state postural equilibrium (e.g., postural "set"). 6. A conceptual model is proposed that suggests one simple way in which the reciprocal influence of postural set on postural and focal movement components and their temporal sequencing might be accomplished. Furthermore, we propose in this model a common central organization of postural adjustments associated with focal movements and those elicited by support-surface movements.

Afferent Pathways↗

Motor-unit activation patterns in lengthening and isometric contractions of hindlimb extensor muscles in the decerebrate cat.

1. Multiunit integrated electromyographic (EMG) signals and single-unit EMG potentials were recorded during isometric and lengthening (stretch reflex) contractions of soleus and medial gastrocnemius (MG) muscles in 20 decerebrate cats. Patterns of motor-unit recruitment and rate modulation were examined in isometric muscles and during constant-velocity stretches. 2. Analysis of multiunit EMG activity and its relationship to active force revealed a marked difference between isometric and lengthening contractions. While the force-EMG relationship for isometric contractions was characteristically linear, the relation recorded during stretch-reflex responses showed a disproportionate early EMG increase, which was most obvious at low force levels, suggesting that the efficacy of force production is reduced in lengthening muscle. 3. Single-unit recruitment patterns were found to be qualitatively similar in isometric and lengthening contractions. In each case, motor units were recruited in order of increasing spike voltage. The numbers of newly recruited units declined steeply with each successive increment in active force. For a given unit, the force at which recruitment occurred was found to be greater in lengthening contractions than in isometric contractions, and in lengthening contractions it was also found to depend on the level of initial force. 4. Two patterns of motor-unit rate modulation were observed during muscle stretch, depending on whether a given unit was firing before the beginning of stretch or whether it was recruited during the course of stretch. Motor units that were active prior to stretch were found to increase firing rate at stretch onset and to vary their rate very little thereafter. Motor units recruited in the course of stretch began firing at an initial rate proportional to their force threshold, gradually increased their firing rate with increasing force, and sometimes reached an apparent maximum rate. 5. These results are discussed in terms of the mechanical properties of lengthening muscle and reflex regulation of these properties. Each identified pattern of motor-unit recruitment and rate modulation is evaluated for its potential contribution to the regulation of muscle properties, especially the prevention of muscle yield. We conclude that at low to moderate levels of initial force, recruitment of new motor units is likely to be the most effective compensatory mechanism.

Animals↗